A New Gender Microaggressions Taxonomy for Undergraduate Women on College Campuses: A Qualitative Examination

Abstract

Gender microaggressions are everyday slights, insults, and invalidations theorized to create and sustain environments in which sexual harassment and assault of women is normative and permissible. Establishing a gender microaggressions taxonomy for undergraduate women may support efforts to improve campus climate and reduce sexual violence. This study aims to identify a gender microaggressions taxonomy for undergraduate women on college campuses. Five qualitative semi-structured focus groups ( N = 23) were conducted with 18- to 25-year-old undergraduate women. Purposive sampling was employed and directed content analysis was performed. Seven themes emerged: invisibility, intersectionality, caretaker and nurturer, women-dominated occupations, presumed incompetence, sexual objectification, and environmental invalidations.